On January 24th, NHCS held a Town Hall meeting that invited parents and community members to a presentation about the impact of minimum wage on the child care centre and school age licensed programs. Executive Director, Jessica Anderson went over the background of the charity and not for profit organization and how NHCS is the only Licensed Child Care provider in the 7 townships and municipalities of North Hastings.

Tammy Garrison, Hastings County Children's Services Supervisor was invited to share information on Child Care fee subsidies that are available to parents. More information on the subsidies can be found here.

Regulated by the Child Care and Early Years Act and dependent on the funding provided by the Ministry of Education and the requirements we must follow, NHCS is currently facing a financial impact due to the minimum wage increase – effective support for parents is critical. NHCS would like feedback and suggestions on how the child care centre and school age programs can provide added value and cost saving measures to keep child care costs affordable. All suggestions and feedback made during the town hall meeting and parent survey will be submitted to the Board for the decision making.

This increase will cost the child care centre and school age programs more than $67,500 in 2018 and more than $95,600 in 2019. This does not include the operational support such as a cook, special needs support, custodian and administration. This increase will need to be supported through the revenue stream of the child care centres.

The options to mediate these increased costs, including the amount of increase to the child care rates, will be received by the Board of Directors on February 7th and posted on February 16th with changes not being implemented until April 1st. . At their meeting, the Board of Directors will undertake a comprehensive analysis to determine the rate increase. The Board is mindful of balancing the need to support families with affordable child care costs and remain a sustainable organization with the limited public funding.

All parents will receive a survey to fill out that will give an opportunity to share their feedback and provide input to what they can afford. Parents are encouraged to read through a copy of the presentation here and a copy of the Questions and Answers here before filling out their survey here.

For more information or questions please contact Jessica Anderson, Executive Director at her email janderson@nhcs.ca.